The only person who knew the inside story between himself and Grace Howard was Edward Clark. Because of this, Edward Clark often teased Brian Carter about it, saying things like “a hero saving a beauty, now the beauty wants to offer herself in gratitude,” or “the hero saves the beauty, and the beauty falls for him,” and so on...

With the crystal stones in hand, he felt at ease.

When Brian Carter entered the virtual space again, at Ryan’s request, he took out twenty crystal stones, which were quickly absorbed in a very short time.

However, this energy was not used for Brian Carter’s cultivation, but for constructing the virtual space.

The small herb garden in front of the door had expanded to about twice its original size, with many more types and quantities of plants inside. Seeing this, Brian Carter was secretly delighted—were all these herbs prepared just for him?

“Don’t get too happy. The energy absorbed was too little. Except for a few slightly more valuable essential herbs, the rest are all ordinary herbs. There’s really nothing to be proud of. These will only be useful to you during the Strengthener stage at most...”

Brian Carter was speechless. Thinking of the changes here, he couldn’t help but ask, “So as long as there’s enough energy, can any kind of medicine be generated here?”

“In theory, yes. But this space has its own rules. It’s not like you can have whatever you want—everything requires enough energy. For some rare medicines, the energy required is enormous. For example, those ten or so Black Jade Grass plants in the garden outside, which are the main ingredient for Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew, require more energy than all the other medicines combined...”

Brian Carter nodded in understanding and said, “I’m starting to understand what you meant by working hard to earn crystal stones. Anyway, I don’t need to worry about anything here. I just need to focus on making money and earning crystal stones, right?”

“That’s right. With me in this space, you don’t need to worry. Of course, sometimes I’ll discuss things with you—usually when a large amount of crystal stones is needed.”

Brian Carter was speechless again. So every time there’s a “discussion,” it means he has to spend a fortune... and a big one at that...

Whatever, for the sake of strength, he’d go all out!

There were daily training targets. Although it was just slicing radishes, the weight of the knife gradually increased without him noticing. After each training session, Brian Carter was as exhausted as an old ox gasping for breath.

Ryan wasn’t in a hurry to make the Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew. Instead, after Brian Carter finished his training, he tossed over a thin booklet.

“Take advantage of your break to read this and memorize it.”

Brian Carter took it and, upon seeing the bold characters on the cover, immediately perked up.

Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew!

Opening the booklet, he found it contained an extremely detailed method for making the Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew: each ingredient, a detailed introduction to every material, how to collect each medicinal ingredient, and the actual steps and key points of preparation—all clear and easy to understand.

While catching his breath, Brian Carter finished reading the booklet, carefully reviewing it in his mind. After confirming he had memorized everything, he finally opened his eyes.

“Come, watch me do it for real.”

Standing by the big pot, Brian Carter watched as Ryan demonstrated the preparation of the Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew again. With each step, Brian Carter gained more insight. Seeing the actual process turned the written descriptions into concrete memories, making the impression even deeper.

“Now you try it yourself!”

...

For three days in a row, Brian Carter was almost always immersed in the virtual space—cultivating, making medicinal cuisine, cultivating, making medicinal cuisine, and alternating between reading and learning the basics of medicinal cuisine.

Every day, black grime would ooze from Brian Carter’s body. At first, he would notice and take a shower, but later, to save time, he simply bathed once a day.

Smelly or not, it didn’t matter—he’d end up stinky again soon anyway.

Bathing took quite a bit of time, and with the fourfold time ratio in the virtual space, that meant a lot of cultivation time lost. Multiple showers would waste so much time!

That pitch-black kitchen knife gradually grew heavier without him realizing it. By the end, it weighed at least half again as much as the original one hundred jin—at least one hundred and fifty jin!

This wasn’t a one-time increase in weight, nor a single burst of strength, but the result of countless repetitions of lifting and lowering, all while controlling the force. This extra fifty jin was probably harder than increasing the load by two hundred jin all at once.

After three days, Brian Carter was almost completely worn out, but the growth in strength and the wealth of medicinal cuisine knowledge made him enjoy every bit of it.

At the end of the three days, after more than ten failed attempts and feeling heartbroken over the wasted crystal stone energy, Brian Carter finally succeeded in making his first Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew.

After a deep sleep, Brian Carter took a shower early in the morning, preparing to go out and buy the eight ingredients needed for the Black Jade Eight Treasures Stew. These ingredients should be available at the Medicinal Cuisine Guild’s shop.

Although medicinal cuisine was no longer as glorious as it once was, the Medicinal Cuisine Guild still existed—just in a much more declining state, unable to lift its head under the pressure of the Alchemy Guild.